Recent advances in flower color alteration by metabolic manipulation of carotenoid biosynthesis

U hortikulturi je prisutna stalna potreba za ukrasnim biljkama sa novim karakteristikama, gde boja cveta predstavlja jednu od najvažnijih osobina koja određuje njihovu komercijalnu vrednost. Sa razvojem metoda genetičkog inženjeringa otvorena je mogućnost kreiranja biljaka sa željenom bojom cvetova koja se ne može postići klasičnim ukrštanjem ili mutagenezom. Boja cvetova kod biljaka određena je sadržajem tri biljna pigmenta: antocijanina, karotenoida i betalaina. Do sada, najveći napredak postignut je genetičkom modulacijom biosinteze antocijanina. Na ovaj način postignute su nove boje cvetova kod najmanje 50 ukrasnih vrsta, a neki od tih modifikovanih varijeteta su već dugi niz godina u slobodnoj prodaji. Međutim, promena boje cveta manipulacijom biosintetskog puta karotenoida je dokumentovana kod svega nekoliko ukrasnih vrsta i poslednjih godina intenzivirana su istraživanja u tom pravcu. U ovom radu je razmatran potencijal ovog pristupa, sa posebnim osvrtom na rezultate postignute na promeni boje cvetova kod kultivara ljubičice uvodjenjem gena za kapsantin-kapsorubin sintazu.In horticulture, there is a constant need for ornamental plants with new characteristics, where the flower color is one of the most important features that determines their commercial value. With the development of genetic engineering methods, it has been possible to create plants with the desired flower color which cannot be achieved by classical breeding or mutagenesis. The flower color in plants is determined by the content of three plant pigments: anthocyanins, carotenoids and betalains. Up to date, the greatest progress has been made by genetic modulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis. In this way, the new flower colors have been achieved in at least 50 ornamental species, and some of these modified varieties have been on market for many years. However, the alteration of flower color by manipulating the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway has been documented in only a few ornamental species, and the research has been significantly increased last few years. In this paper, the potential of this approach is considered, with special reference to the results achieved on flower color alteration of pansy cultivars by introducing the gene for capsanthin-capsorubin synthase